When The Lights Go Out
by AndromedaTheDeathEater
Summary: What starts out as an ordinary Sunday takes a turn for the uncomfortable when a fourteen-year-old Severus is left alone with Tobias all afternoon during a thunderstorm.
1. Rainy Sunday

Disclaimer: Hey, don't look at me! I own nothing

Chapter 1:

Rainy Sundays

A flash of lightning cracked across the skies above the bowels of Cokeworth. Rain flooded the cobblestone streets all over town, forcing pedestrians under awnings and in buildings for shelter against the mid-summer storm. Not far away, thunder rattled the thin walls of a poorly maintained row house on Spinner's End.

A middle-aged man with ink-black hair peppered with gray at the temples looked up from his newspaper when he heard the thunder's crash from the safety of his living room. "I suppose this storm will put your mother back on her shopping." Tobias Snape said, breaking the hour-long silence between him and his son. His son, a loosely drawn image of him, only nodded in acknowledgment, then turned back to the black leather-bound book he had been cradling around the house for a number of days now. Homework, most likely.

The father returned to his own reading, determined to enjoy the only day off he would see that week and probably the weeks to come. Holding down two jobs made little time for anything else but still he would take a temporary third job next week. Tobias expected precious little sleep in the weeks to come.

He pushed work out of his mind for a change. Despite the gray skies, it was slowly creeping upon noon and his day to relax from the week's toil felt as if it were only just starting. He stretched his legs across the couch and flipped a page when he caught his son staring at him, knees drawn up in a childish manner, sitting in the thread-bare armchair.

He raised an eyebrow at the boy to catch him off guard and said in an even voice, "Problem, Severus?"

Severus was jolted out of his staring and looked to his father as if he expected more than those words.

"No," he started, "I was just… I mean, I was only…" for some reason he broke off and hung his head back over his homework.

Oversensitive. That's what the boy was. Two little words and Severus stammers and hides his nose in a book. But this was an improvement from three years ago, before he got his Hogwarts letter. Three years ago a few words from his father would have sent him straight up to his room for the rest of the day. That magic school kept him busy during the summer, at least. Thinking. Learning. Reading. Not flopping around the house or sealing himself off in his bedroom all day like he used to. He still flopped of course, like all teenagers do, Tobias could still sometimes hear him zapping down flies with his magic behind a closed door and even occasionally missing one and nicking the wallpaper instead. But it was different now and Tobias had his sneaking suspicion that his son's friendship with that red-headed girl, Lily Evans that lived on the better side of neighborhood was partially responsible for Severus becoming something other than a recluse.

Whatever the reasons, Tobias wasn't about to complain. Not today, because Tobias would like to think of this day as his own, to do what he pleased for as long as he pleased. And right now that was to read his newspaper in peace uninterrupted and say nothing to anyone. He flipped to the next page and found himself seduced by the silence.

_Ring, ring,_

The telephone resounded throughout the entire first floor and the two pairs of similar dark eyes cut to each other,

"Are you expecting a call?" Tobias asked.

Severus shook his head. Hating to remove himself from his comfortable spot, Tobias forced himself up and into the kitchen and picked up the phone that was mounted on the far wall.

"Yes?" He sounded a little less friendly than he meant to. There was a pause on the other line.

"Severus?" His wife's voice. What could she want?

He gave a good sneer and spoke in the smoothest tone possible, "Shame, Eileen, you obviously don't know your own husband."

"Don't be ridiculous," Eileen retorted, "The boy's sounding more like you every day. Shame on _you _for not hearing it_."_

"What is it you want? I was having a lovely Sunday with you out of my sight."

"Well, your Sunday has just gotten lovelier. It's pouring downtown and I refuse to drive that muggle deathtrap called a 'car' home until the rain lets up. You'll be on your own for lunch. Good day."

"Wait, where are you?" he spat out quickly before she could put the receiver down. It was her time to sneer.

"Pretending to care, are we? I'm in a phone booth in a little sandwich shop downtown."

She hung up loud enough to make his right ear pop. Wonderful. Tobias just loved Sundays.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you like my snarky Tobias. I wrote dialog for him much like I would have wrote for Severus if he was dealing with Neville Longbottom in potions class. I guess his relationship with Eileen is a bit different too from most fan fictions. I wanted his relationship with Eileen to be obviously strained from both ends. Eileen can certainly hold her own in an argument and isn't afraid to start one either! I made her a bit snarky and sarcastic as well; Severus must get it somewhere, why not both sides? Tobias seems a bit... classier than most portrayals of him and he doesn't drink in my story, so I hope you don't mind that. The next chapter(s) will be much longer I promise, I did leave you at a cliffhanger for a reason (wink,wink).


	2. The Prince's Unveiling

Disclaimer: I don't own Severus Snape or his broken childhood

Chapter 2:

The Prince's Unveiling

Severus sat quietly reading his Potions textbook in the sitting room, occasionally looking out the front window and inwardly cursing the rain outside for choosing to make it's appearance on the one day his father was guarantied to be home.

"What is it you want?" His father's voice carried to the sitting room, scathing and harsh to whoever he was on the telephone with.

"I was having a lovely Sunday with you out of my sight!" he heard his father say.

It must have been his mother. Who else would Tobias want out of his sight? Rationally, Severus knew there were many people his father would prefer out of his sight, but perhaps none more so then his wife Eileen.

He heard a silence for a while and figured his mother was biting back at him in her own words. Honestly, only Tobias and Eileen Snape could find a reason to start an argument as far away from each other as across town. All he could do was pray this weather didn't hold up all summer and his mother didn't go off on any more ridiculous shopping trips. At least when his mother was home with him she would mostly leave him alone, even if she did tend to act like he didn't exist. But it didn't bother him, mostly.

It had been years since Severus was left alone in the house with his father all day. He couldn't even remember such a time, although he was sure it must have been unpleasant as Tobias was a very unpleasant man to be around. Severus always made it a point to stay out of sight on his father's day off, usually holding up in his room or going off to Lily's house for a few hours until Eileen would expect him home for dinner in the early evening.

Unfortunately, Lily was away this weekend, off with her family on a camping trip Severus felt too awkward to push an invitation for. To his astonishment, Lily told him a week prior that her sister Petunia was going too (probably due the their parents insistence) and she wanted to use this time with her sister to make amends. Severus didn't have the heart to warn her it would backfire. In Petunia's narrow little mind she has no sister and as long as Lily lived there was nothing she could do to chance her mind. It was a fact that Lily would have to learn to live with in time, but for now Severus would just have to be there for her when she comes to him crying about Petunia and how she's managed to convince all of her muggle friends that she has a freak for a sister.

A faint click told him Tobias was off the phone and in a few minutes he heard his father come in from the kitchen, scowl evident in his voice like always.

"Busy as usual, are you? I don't suppose you could sacrifice a few minutes of learning magic tricks to set the table while I fix lunch?" Tobias said, words dripping with sarcasm .

Severus sent a cold look to the man while put his textbook down on the coffee table. He wasn't sure where it came from but he could his patience running on a short fuse.

"I'm not reading about magic tricks, and for your information I am busy." He spoke through gritted teeth. Tobias' face darkened immediately and Severus found himself wanting to reel in his words somehow. The annoyance still bubbled inside of him but he was sure he would catch it if he said anything more.

The man approached him, feet making little noise as possible. Those eyes made Severus want to disappear.

"You know better than to argue with me. You do as I say, when I say without giving me lip. Understood?"

Severus nodded without much choice, not really wanting to antagonize the man further. He followed Tobias into the kitchen and got out the silverware while his father turned up the burner on the stove. He blinked as he watched this, slowly catching on to what he said a minute ago.

"You… you mean you really are making lunch?" he asked Tobias, not believing that his father could even cook.

"I was planning on it," Tobias said, pouring store-bought chicken stock into a pot on the stove. He still sounded mad.

"But I suppose I could let you starve if that's what you'd prefer."

Severus ignored that remark rather easily, turning his attention to the kitchen table instead_. _

He then remembered how long ago it was since Eileen left. Shouldn't she have been back by now?

"Where was she when she called? That was Eileen wasn't it?" He asked his father.

"Still downtown. The roads are too slick and you know how she hates driving."

Severus nodded, knowing all too well how she felt about using muggle cars, shopping at muggle department stores and dealing with muggles in general. He looked around for the napkins, opening drawers and peeking in cabinets. He hadn't had to set the table since he was ten.

"What did she go to town for, anyway?" Severus thought to ask.

Tobias shrugged, "To buy you new shoes, I think."

"Shoes?" He distractedly slammed a drawer shut, almost caching his fingers, "But I don't need shoes, I need underwear."

"Well take that up with your mother, you ungrateful whelp, I don't shop for your clothes. And by the way," Severus turned around to see that his father held out a handful of napkins, "I believe this is what you were looking for."

Severus nodded a silent but hesitant 'thanks' and took them, preceding to set the kitchen table as he was told.

Scuffed, pinching secondhand shoes was the last thing he wanted to return to Hogwarts with, he certainly got enough grief from the others about what he normally wore. And what if the shoes were scuffed, pinched and smelled funny? James Potter and his goons would have a field day with that. He couldn't even hold back a shudder.

Tobias managed to scrounge up from the refrigerator four tomatoes and an old, tired-looking onion. "Come here a minute," he called, "Make the sandwiches while I get started on the tomato soup. There's some leftover ham from last night's dinner in the fridge. And be quick about it."

"Do you think…" Severus started, feeling at fourteen sandwiches were a little below his skill level, "…that I could make the soup?"

There was the soft rumble of thunder outside before his father spoke with one eyebrow skeptically raised.

"_You?_ Are you indicating to me that you can_ cook?"_

"I can brew. It's the same thing."

Tobias sneered again, "I somehow doubt that. But…if you're bent on it, go ahead." he stepped aside to let Severus by and set the vegetables on the counter, rubbing his temples as if he were getting a headache.

"Now at least let me show you how to dice-"

"I know how to dice," Severus insisted, "I dice all the time in Potions class."

"No one likes a know-it-all, Severus," his father chided, drawing a knife out of the knife block and handing it to him, "It's far more effective to prove your talent than to boast of it."

And so with his father's dark eyes peering over his shoulder, he prepared and added all the ingredients per instructed, meeting every barked order with a sour expression that he imagined was very much like his mother's. It soon started to resemble tomato soup despite Severus's skepticism that chicken stock could make it look like anything other than chicken soup.

"Let it simmer a while but stir it in five minutes." Tobias said, pulling his son by the shirtsleeve back over to the kitchen table, "Meanwhile, sit here and stay out of my way for a bit." He got out a pan and began to fry the ham for the sandwiches while Severus sat back and watched.

"I didn't know you could cook." He said after a several minutes of silence. It was true. Looking back, he never knew a time when Tobias made anything more in the kitchen than a pot of coffee.

For a second he thought he saw a fleeting smirk on his father's face but was gone in an instant.

"Naturally, Severus, there are many things about me you don't know. And stir that pot, you silly boy, don't let it boil over!"

Alarmed, Severus turned to the mess on the stove and grabbed a spoon and a pot holder before disaster struck. He could feel his father looming over his shoulder, sneering at him once again, "So much for your 'brewing skills'"

After some time, lunch was cooked, on the table and then eaten in relative silence except for the intensifying rain outside. The soup was delicious but naturally Tobias scowled at and called it too runny, and the sandwiches were about as good as leftover ham and day-old bread could possibly taste but Severus wouldn't admit that it wasn't Tobias' fault that the bread was stale or the ham was too fatty. As they gathered up the plates and put them in the sink the lights shut off without warning. Every inch of the room was coated in blackness except when a brief lightning strike flashed and coated everything in pale blue light.

"Did you do this?" He heard his father's accusing voice coming from where he remembered the sink to be.

"Do what?"

"Stop playing tricks on me." Severus felt his father's hand find his upper arm, "The lights. You used your magic didn't you?"

"N-no. It's raining, don't you hear it? The power was bound to go out."

"Well then, use your magic to turn the lights on."

"I can't. It's the Ministry of Magic's law, no underage magic." He toyed with the idea of telling Tobias about the Dementors that guard Azkaban prison but decided to save that tale for a time when he could see the horrified expression on his father's face.

Surprisingly, Tobias scoffed at the idea, "All that time you spend at that school and you aren't even allowed to use magic? That's the most ridiculous rubbish I've ever heard."

"We can use it at school. It's just illegal at home… unless maybe if we're supervised."

"I'm your father, I'm supervising you. That should be enough." Tobias said, sounding thoroughly annoyed.

Severus shook his head, "No, it's no good if you're a muggle." he replied quietly, wishing he could use his magic to vanish into a dark pit for a while. He didn't know if Tobias deliberately ignored what he said or if he honestly didn't hear it. Either way, thankfully, he dropped the subject."

"What about candles? Are they illegal too?"

"Of course not."

"Then go find some you loathsome little imp." He urged, nudging his son forward, "I'll light the fireplace. Does it still work as a fireplace or can it only be used as a magical taxi service?"

Severus indulged in rolling his eyes, the gesture safely concealed in the darkness. Typical of his father, always complaining.

After Tobias left it took several minutes for Severus to find the box of used candles in the kitchen cupboard and by the time he found the holders there was already a dull fire in the fireplace guiding him back to the sitting room. Severus' eyes widened when he saw his father sitting cross-legged in the armchair by the fire, looking through (or rather, snooping in) Severus' Potions textbook.

"'Property of the Half-Blood Prince?' Is that a codeword of some sort?" Tobias said, giving a knowing smirk.

Severus stepped forward, angrier at his father then he'd been in a long time. That was his book! Everything he wrote in there he never meant for his father to see! His eyes burned like coals as he struggled with his words.

"You…have no right…"

Surely not the most effective thing to say but for the moment it was the best that he could do.

"Don't I? I read all the time that parents need to be proactive in their child's schooling. Now isn't that all I'm doing?" Tobias' voice was remarkably calm as he dared to slowly turn page after page.

"That wasn't yours to see…" Severus croaked out, struggling to regain some composure.

"Then has your mother seen it?"

"No! And don't you dare show her!"

"Why not? It's her book, I know that much," Tobias closed it to read the cover, "She might find it amusing. Or rather sweet-"

_At this point Severus ran for the book trying to snatch it out of his hand but Tobias released it immediately._

_T_he air grew still and hot for a few minutes as everything in the house seemed to abruptly stop. Severus clutched his Potion's book to his chest, trying to find it within himself to explain the whole thing to him but Tobias spoke first.

"Severus, I've never been one for popularity contests. I never won them as them as a child and I certainly don't win them now. Believe me, this-" the made a sweeping gesture towards the book and everything in it, "-is really no surprise to me."

Severus shook his head vigorously. It wasn't supposed to come out like this. "No. You're getting it all wrong. Those children… I just felt… I only wanted to be good enough!"

"Good enough for your mother you mean." It wasn't a question and Tobias didn't present it as one. "You may not think I know about magic but I've been married to Eileen for a long time. I hear the way speaks of blood purity and Slytherin ideals, how pure-bloods are superior and muggles are all weak-minded bigots. I don't know the rest of the magical world judges one's self worth but I've always believed it should be based on one's ability to work hard and survive, not whether or not someone's father can wave a magic wand or travel the world through a fireplace."

At first he thought it was in his imagination that his father's voice had softened but he looked up to find that his eyes had softened too. But only just a bit; Severus was sure most people wouldn't even see a difference.

* * *

Yay! The second chapter's up! Now we're down to the drama! What do you think about Tobias' reaction to finding the Potion's book?

Leave a review, I love to read them! ^_^


	3. Bonding

Disclamer: I don't own anything so don't sue me!

I had a little trouble updating- sorry for the wait!

* * *

Chapter 3:

Bonding

"I don't know how the rest of the magical world judges one's self worth but I've always believed it should be based on one's ability to work hard and survive, not whether or not someone's father can wave a magic wand or travel the world through a fireplace."

The words Tobias chose may not have been perfect and they certainly didn't come easy to say. Tobias wasn't a very warm person, open to kind gestures or words of praise, but he meant that last part. About self-worth and working hard and surviving. And Severus did work hard, Tobias knew that, and he could survive in this world better than most if he only tried. He was like his mother in that regard, strong-willed yes, but always in a state of inner-turmoil about something impalpable. If the books he read about pure-blood wizarding marriage practices were correct, Tobias would dare to suspect his wife's family was prone to clinical depression due to probable inbreeding. Of course, he would never slander the almighty name of Prince to Eileen's face, lest she might decide to turn him into a footstool in the middle of the night (and he had no reason to doubt that she would).

It seemed the family curse of magical racism, however, would repeat itself one way or another.

Tobias wasn't prepared for this, Severus' obvious disregard for half of his lineage. It hurt, in a way, not that he hadn't expected it to happen eventually. He knew the day would come when he'd see his son on the street and Severus would only nod to him as he would a stranger and walk by. He just didn't think it would come so soon. He thought, he hoped, that he would have his son just a little while longer.

Tobias didn't know this person that Severus had become over the years. An image of what the Prince family wanted Eileen to be, what later on in her life she regretted not being. It was changing him, subtly, but it was there. She instilled his love of 'Dark Magic', giving him a Dark Arts book once he was old enough to read. He was far too young, Tobias felt, and would put his foot down time and time again, but it did no good for his already fragile marriage.

'He needs to learn magic,' Eileen said during a particularly bad disagreement on the subject, 'It's in his blood.'

'But he should decide that for himself, when he's older.' Tobias said firmly to her.

She laughed at him, told him he was only a muggle and couldn't possibly understand. He grew furious at that and shouted that he wished he'd never have married her. Eileen cowered at his words as if she hadn't expected them but Tobias didn't care by that point. It was only unfortunate that Severus was there to bare witness to that argument. He cried in his room for hours afterwards.

Even here, in the present time Severus withdrew into himself, hunching his shoulders and looking up at Tobias with deep-set black eyes. He had the book now and held it close to his chest as if he expected it to be taken from him

Tobias would do no such thing. He'd seen it already, cover to cover. The secret was out and there was nothing more. Or at least Tobias hoped there was nothing more, but with that boy one never could tell.

Caught in the awkwardness of it all, Severus put one foot behind him; he would turn towards the stairs and retreat up to his room, darkness or no darkness, and sulk just as he always did.

The firelight painted a picture of Severus that his father had failed to see all summer. He didn't remember his son like this; this nervous, pallid little thing, too thin to be healthy.

Suddenly, a paternal feeling of concern welled inside him, ridiculous as it may have felt at first. Severus ate well enough during lunch, didn't he? Weren't they feeding him at that magic school? He would have to get to the bottom of that later. One problem at a time.

"Severus," Tobias put a hand on the boy's shoulder, not even a rough one either, just firm enough to keep him in place, "Sit down. We can forget about that damned Potions book. Just don't hide in your bedroom again."

He didn't like the sound of his own voice. It was too…saccharine, almost as if he was coaxing a kitten out of a box.

"I hide from nothing." Severus said sharply, brushing the hand off his shoulder with a sudden burst of will. It was a move Eileen would make but Tobias could play that game too. He gathered up that familiar feeling of authoritative restraint and spoke a challenge that he knew Severus couldn't refuse.

"Prove that to me." he said,"Sit here and face me, look me in the eyes knowing that I know what I do. You can't change what I've read so you might as well get over it."

He gestured to the sofa, welcoming a reply one way or the other and got one when his son sat stiffly on the floor, face telling of his displeasure.

Good enough. At least he didn't seem to be going anywhere.

He noticed the boy's eyes glaring holes into him as he ran his thumb up and down the binder of his mother's old book, not even daring to open it now. For an instant, Severus opened his mouth as if to speak, then gave it a second thought and closed it, suddenly posed still enough to blend into the wallpaper.

Tobias sighed in irritation over the sudden episode of shyness.

"Speak up, boy, you won't be punished for it." Severus looked up with a peculiar look on his face.

"Would you be willing to put that into writing?"

"Watch your tongue though," Tobias warned, "I'm not angry as of yet, however I don't recommend you push me by being cheeky."

The boy seemed puzzled, like he'd suddenly realized he wondered into the wrong house.

"I…I don't understand it. You have to be angry. You always are. I would be."

Tobias shook his head, mildly amused at how young the boy sounded, "I'm your father, Severus. I don't have to be anything. Nor do you. Now if you have something to say to me I suggest you do so before I lose my patience."

It was Severus' turn to shake his head, "I suppose you're entitled to hear it then," He sat with his arms folded over his knees. Protective once again, Tobias noted. "I wrote that as a sort of reminder-"

"Of your mother's maiden name?" Tobias interjected.

"Now look who's being cheeky." His son scoffed, fiddling with the button on his shirtsleeve. A definite nervous gesture.

"I wrote that," Severus continued, "to remind myself that…that no matter how weak I may feel… I'm always stronger than somebody else." He said this without looking up. His eyes misted for a fleeting second but that disappeared with a quick wipe with the back of Severus' hand. The gesture was so fast it didn't even look like he was wiping away tears. His father wondered how many times he has had to hide tears before.

"Muggles?" Tobias asked.

Severus nodded. "That logic sounds very unhealthy now that I say it out loud."

He gave a grim little smile that Tobias didn't understand.

"Why do you feel weak, Severus? There's something you're not telling me."

The boy's posture stiffened.

"It's off the subject. Forget it." Severus shrugged dismissively.

"I'll decide what's off the subject in this house." Perhaps that sounded a bit scathing in retrospect, but his son didn't respond to it.

"You wouldn't care." He insisted.

"Try me."

Severus' head whipped around, cheeks flushed as he spat out, almost absent-mindedly, "It isn't your business!"

Severus' eyes grew in shock over his own words. He stood up and turned away, his face buried in his hands in a gesture of helplessness so foreign to his father, and himself.

"I-I didn't mean-" he stammered miserably.

"I'm trying to remain sympathetic," Tobias said coolly, getting a grip on his own anger. "Don't complicate things by making me want to throttle you."

Severus nodded, suddenly appearing young again. Usually Severus was such an old soul, Tobias could easily forget that he was still just a boy. He makes mistakes sometimes, as all boys do. He needed guidance, not just discipline.

"You need to learn to bite that tongue of yours, child. Speaking out of anger is one habit I intend to break you of."

"I learned it from you." Severus muttered.

"I have no doubt that you did."

A shift of tenseness hung in the air as Severus looked up at him expectantly,

"What will you do?"

"About what?

"A punishment."

"Asking for a punishment now, are we?" Tobias smirked, though he knew he shouldn't, "Give me time to think of one as I'm feeling a bit creative. For now though, your could answer my question."

That did it. He could see his son turning into a nervous wreck again as he paced around the room, an intense expression plastered on his face.

"The children in my year, they're all idiots you see. It's because they _are_ children, immature and terribly stuck-up, always pretending to be 'somebody',_"_

He stalled a bit and Tobias urged him on.

"Yes, yes, I've been through high-school before. Out with it, boy, or I can't help you."

At this, Severus stopped and gave him a strange stare, like he was trying to pick apart his father's words to find a grain of insincerity in them.

"They don't care for me much. My year, my house, everyone else. They say I'm creepy…and greasy. I don't wear the right robes, so they say. Apparently even my muggle clothes aren't good enough."

"Who," Tobias asked "is 'they'?"

Severus looked to his feet, letting the hair fall in front if his face.

"_B_lack, Potter and everyone. They all chime in eventually, the other students. Even my House doesn't really like me. The other Slytherins…well, they're all rich. And pure-bloods… "

It made sense now why Severus was so picky over the clothes his mother bought for him. It was only a shame that they usually didn't have money to buy any better. Perhaps, with some scrimping and saving Tobias could buy him a proper wardrobe by the end of summer. He'd best not tell him right away until he could be sure. Wouldn't want to get the boy's hopes up.

"Is that all they say about you? Jeers about your clothing, is that the extent of it?"

Severus scowled, "Not for Potter. He hates me. Always finding ways to humiliate me. Uses every spell against me that isn't a dark spell."

"A rivalry?"

"Hardly. Black is in on it too. And then there's Pettigrew and Lupin. But Pettigrew is a coward on his own and Lupin only fights back to prove himself to his friends occasionally. He rarely bothers me."

He hesitated before saying in a lowered voice, "Lately, I've noticed they've been… meeting me places. Like they know where I am and are lying in wait for me to arrive. I don't know how they do it, but they're somehow tracking me and they always know when I'm alone. I wonder if that's how they've been able to keep their secret."

He eyed his son suspiciously, not knowing where this was taking him. "What secret, Severus? You don't play a part in it I hope."

Severus' face grew stern and thoughtful. "Tobias, I think… no, I know Remus Lupin is a werewolf. He shows all the telltale signs. Absences that coincide with the full moon, general unwellness during the days prior. I've done all my research and he fits all of the criteria."

Now this was news to Tobias. Never once did Eileen explain the existence of werewolves before. But he had no reason to disbelieve it, not when Severus sounded so confident, so sure about it.

"I don't see where it matters, in a school where every student is a witch or wizard and the groundskeeper is the size of a large car."

"Werewolves are dangerous," his son explained, "If one was let loose in the castle during a full moon, who knows how many students would be bitten or die. And they are protecting him. The whole school is protecting him. If I were to suddenly become a werewolf just see how many people would cater to me that way!" He said bitterly, eyes fixed to the window. The rain poured so heavily someone standing outside couldn't see a few feet ahead of themselves. It truly seemed as if there would be no end to this depressing conversation. One thing didn't add up, however. If Severus was being made the target of so much animosity, where was the Evans girl in this tale?

"So, between a snarling werewolf and a group of predatory bullies, how does Lily handle herself?"

When Tobias asked Severus' face paled more his father expected. So this was yet another sore subject. By now Tobias was willing to believe nothing about his son's life could be discussed without the boy blanching or getting upset.

He raised and eyebrow at the reaction.

"That is her name, isn't it?"

The boy turned back to him and nodded his inky-black head, swallowing down whatever hesitance he had in his mind,

"They don't bother Lily. I mean they tease her, they tease everyone but I'm the only one they…"

"Pursue? Torment?" Tobias offered.

"Well worded."

"There's more, I'll bet." The man probed again, feeling perhaps the more Severus talked the quicker they could reach a breakthrough and be done with the whole thing.

Severus explained uneasily after a moment of thought, "Potter sometimes… always says things to her. Not nice things, but… interested things. Things you would say to get a girl to like you,"

"And you're jealous," He asked. This only made Severus sputter worse then before.

"Jealous? No! I'm just-I'm not jealous. James Potter-he's arrogant. She doesn't even like him-they argue, for goodness sakes!-I am not jealous of Potter!"

He flurried around the accusation, meeting it head-on with ineffective schoolboy denial. If he fancied that Evans girl he could have said so outright; it wasn't as if Tobias was a stranger to those feelings himself. But here he was, stammering and fidgeting and fighting his feelings back with a stick as if the idea that the red-headed, green-eyed girl from the next block might reciprocate was unfathomable.

The image would have almost been funny if it didn't come across as so pitiful.

"Four against one. They don't give you much of a chance, do they?" Tobias said, thinking of those boys again and what they've done to hurt what little self-esteem Severus had.

"I'm used to it." Was all Severus said in return and they were soon lulled into a serene silence until several minutes later when a knock at the front door called their attention.

It wasn't Eileen's knock; it was too fast and low placed on the wood of the door.

Tobias got up, grudgingly, and looked out the door's small window to see a familiar face with large tearful green eyes and a cascade of wet red hair strewn down her back.

"Severus, I believe you have a visitor." He said stepping away from the door. The boy looked frozen for awhile. Severus had only ever had one visitor stop by to see him and by the look on his face he hadn't expected to see her at all. His father remembered in passing that she wasn't supposed to be in town today; a family trip Severus had said. Something to do with her sister, or was it her mother? Tobias and Eileen tended to ignore Severus' schoolyard gossip but considering what was earlier revealed perhaps it's time that they finally start listening to the boy.

"Don't keep her waiting, you whelp. Answer it." Tobias snapped when his son seemed to linger back a bit.

Obediently for a change, Severus when to the door, wiping off the sweaty palms he was certain his father did not see and opened the door for her.

And when he did, an armful of teenage girl lunged at Severus, sobbing manically on his shoulder as if the world would implode beneath her feet.

Lily Evans, sopping wet from top of her head to tips of her toes, started tearfully on about a failed camping trip and some dirty trick played on her by her sister.

"She brought her friends along," She said and Severus obviously understood what she meant because he put his arms around her without hesitation, "Petunia wouldn't even speak to me!" the Evans girl sobbed harder.

Severus shook his head and tightened his arms around her, whether subconsciously or in attempt to comfort her.

"She's only a m-" He stopped himself and looked up at his father. It didn't take a wizard to catch what Severus almost said. Those black eyes begged to be understood, if only for a moment and Tobias would not deny his son that much. He turned to take his leave for the kitchen, taking a candle and a match with him. He looked over his shoulder at the scene. That girl in there didn't know pain. Tobias knew it by instinct. She was one of those people who expected good things. She expected a mother, a father, a sister, a home and friends, no strings attached and she was obviously disappointed that she got a little less in life than she expected.

Severus on the other hand expected nothing because nothing was usually all he got. He couldn't feel the way she did about the lows in his life; even at this young age he simply couldn't afford to.

And though at the time it was the Evans girl who was crying, Severus held her as if she were the only thing in life which he could depend on. And that made Tobias profoundly sad.


End file.
